


Together at First

by RedTeamShark



Series: Soul Series [4]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Online Dating, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 17:03:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7649206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a thing you should know. I accidentally fell in love with you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together at First

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to http://bunceglackbooshglaowbip.tumblr.com/

_James Ryan Haywood_  was what he saw scrawled across his back in the mirror, running from shoulder to shoulder. A t-shirt covered it completely. A tank top left the “J” and the “d” just barely noticeable, black letters on tanned skin.

Alright, Ray decided, pulling his t-shirt on over his head. He could live with this.

–

He could live with having a soul mate. He could live with it being someone he never met.

He couldn’t live with the idea of rejection.

He couldn’t live with the thought that he might end up like the guy Lindsay was supposed to be with, trying to kill himself over a relationship that would never be. He couldn’t live with the steadfast declaration of not caring that Michael proudly shouldered every day.

So he signed up for one of the websites that was supposed to help a person find their perfect match, submitting the required information–his full name, the name scrawled on his skin, and a picture of the name–and waiting to find James Ryan Haywood. Just in case.

It was to his utter confusion that he received an e-mail stating he’d been matched perfectly with a man named “Ryan,” a man with broad shoulders and piercing blue eyes, staring out from his profile image with just a hint of a smile on his lips. His soul mate wasn’t a “Ryan,” his soul mate was clearly named “James.”

“Fucking website.” Ray muttered, sighing and deciding to send the guy a message anyways, just to clear up the confusion. There wasn’t an image of the guy’s soul mate marking on his profile, but Ray figured that if the website was broken, it was worth making that clear to his supposed match.

He sent a quick message over the site, leaning back and closing his eyes for a moment. Of course he’d be the guy to get the 1% failure on the website’s “99% of our members find their soul mate” slogan. Really, he should have seen it coming.

Three days and no response later, Ray was ready to just delete his profile and try to forget it. He could sign up for another service, there were plenty of them out there. Or he could just give up on the whole thing and let himself die alone (okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but it certainly didn’t feel like one). He flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating changing out of his work shirt for something more comfortable.

The e-mail alert chimed on his phone, the Puerto Rican reaching over blindly, snagging the device and looking at the notification. He sat bolt upright upon reading the subject line, “Ryan has responded to your private message” practically screaming across the screen at him. Hurriedly, Ray opened the e-mail, tapping to go to his profile on the site and read the full message.

He sighed, flopping back down again. So the guy agreed it was a mistake… For a second he’d thought that he’d actually come across his soul mate and there had just been some sort of name mix-up. So much for that…

Ray re-read the message, smiling just slightly and typing out a response. Even if they weren’t soul mates, at least the guy was nice enough to humor him with some small talk. He set his phone aside, rolling out of bed and grabbing a change of clothes from his closet, making his way to the bathroom.

Fresh out of the shower, Ray was surprised to see his phone blinking with a notification light. He unlocked the screen, seeing the e-mail alert in the top corner first, eyes darting down to the private message field that he’d left open. According to the page he had a new message from Ryan. He tapped to refresh, skimming the text and smiling, typing out a quick response before hurriedly getting dressed again. Booting up his laptop, Ray logged onto the website, still toweling off his hair as the IM window popped up.

 **Ryan:** Hey, what’s up?  
**Ray:** Not much, just got out of the shower.  
**Ray:** Which is why it took me so long to answer about an IM. Haha.  
**Ryan:** Understandable. So you’re from New York? The city everything that the movies say it is?

Ray grinned, hands flying over the keyboard as he answered, the words coming to him easily—jokes about staying inside unless his friends Michael and Lindsay came up from New Jersey to drag him out (under promise of being fed, no less), stories about life in the city, questions about Ryan, where he was from, what he did. That they weren’t soul mates hardly seemed to matter, and by the time Ryan said he had to go for the night, Ray had already long since decided to give him his Skype name.

 **Ray:** Hey if you wanna chat again, we should use Skype.  
**Ray:** You know, stop screwing up the website’s whole “find your soul mate” thing.  
**Ryan:** Sounds good.

Ray sent Ryan his username, quickly logging into Skype, unsurprised when a friend request popped up. He accepted, raising an eyebrow and sending a quick IM.

 **Puerto Rican Sex Bomb:** So, BM Vegabond, huh? What’s the story with that?  
**Ryan:** I feel like your display name is much more questionable than my username.

Ray flushed, quickly changing his display name.

 **Ray:** It’s an inside joke with some friends.  
**Ryan:** Aww, now I don’t feel like I’m talking to a sexchat bot…  
**Ray:** Beep boop bop, baby.  
**Ryan:** Oh yes, talk dirty to me in binary. Lol.

Snickering, the Puerto Rican shook his head. Ryan sent another message a minute later, wishing him a good night and Ray returned the sentiment. He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and sighing when the other man logged off.

“Goddammit. Why can’t _he_ be James? That’d make things _so_ much easier.”

–

For not being soul mates, Ray found it incredibly easy to chat with Ryan. Soon enough the pair of them decided to have an audio chat (mostly at Ray’s insistence, so that he could play games while chatting, but Ryan also seemed up for it). They added each other as friends over Xbox Live and would jump into multi-player games together (Ryan was surprisingly good at first person shooters, though he sometimes had a fatal lack of attention—especially if Ray was on the opposite team). Listening to the other man’s deep voice was soothing, in a way, his laughter normally prompting Ray to laugh, his frustrated yelling when he was taken down also resulting in uproarious humor from the Puerto Rican.

Ray lay in bed one evening, headphones on and eyes on his computer across the room, snickering to himself.

“I dunno, man. The feeling of a controller in your hands beats the hell out of a million button combinations on a keyboard.”

“Don’t be jealous just because you can’t memorize what Control-F-Z-Shift-L does in Skyrim versus what it does in Left 4 Dead.” Ryan returned with his own chuckle. Ray could almost hear him shaking his head.

“That’s an actual command?! Jesus!”

Genuine laughter in his headset, before Ryan settled down slightly. “No, but that you thought it was… I’m going to get you a steam account and start you on games there.”

“Ryan.” Ray whined slightly, drawing out the name. “Don’t do that. I already don’t have enough of a life. Plus, I work at a game store, I can’t be the PC guy! I’ll lose my job.”

“Hey, if that happens, just sue them for discrimination. Say you lost your job because you’re a Puerto Rican Sex Bomb.” They both laughed, Ryan’s slowly settling into a sigh. “Ugh, but speaking of work, I better go to bed. Busy day tomorrow.”

“Mmm… alright, alright. I’ll talk to you later?” Ray sighed, sitting up and looking towards his computer.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Silence fell on them and Ray opened his mouth to say something, cut off when Ryan spoke again. “Hey, Ray? Would you want to… maybe try video chatting sometime?”

Humming in thought, Ray nodded to himself. “Sure. Could be fun. But I should probably clean my room before we do that… don’t need you to judge me too harshly, after all.”

“Get rid of all the gamer stereotypes you’ve surely got piled up around you?” Ryan laughed slightly.

“Hey, I don’t have any stereotypes. Now excuse me while I drink some Mountain Dew and jerk off to, uh, Metroid porn.” They were both laughing again and Ray stood, moving towards his computer. “Mmph. I’ll… see you tomorrow, okay? ‘Night, Ryan.”

“Goodnight, Ray. See you tomorrow.”

–

He should not have been nervous to have a simple video chat.

He was fucking terrified.

Ray adjusted his webcam again, taking a sip of water before setting the bottle down. His eyes were trained on the corner of the screen where the notification would pop up when Ryan logged on.

_BM Vegabond is online_

Clicking the notification, Ray hovered his mouse of the “Invite to Video Chat” option. He swallowed, jerking his hand away from the mouse as if stung. No, he couldn’t just invite him as soon as he was online, what was wrong with him?! That’d seem creepy and forward and—

 **Ryan:** Hey, what’s up?

The IM notification made him jump, and Ray laughed at himself, shaking his head. God, he was being an idiot.

 **Ray:** Not much. You?  
**Ryan:** Just got done fixing dinner. Spaghetti and meatsauce like a true bachelor.  
**Ray:** Hah, I got you beat there. Taco Bell like a true-true bachelor.  
**Ryan:** Dammit.  
**Ryan:** So, you want to switch to audio?

Drumming his fingers on the keyboard, Ray swallowed and typed back quickly.

 **Ray:** Did you still want to do the video thing?  
**Ryan:** Sure, that sounds cool.  
_Ryan would like to video chat_

Ray clicked the accept button, leaning back in his chair and swallowing hard. Why was he so nervous, anyways? He already knew what Ryan looked like from the website and Ryan already knew what he looked like and—

His heart seemed to stop as the image popped up on his computer monitor, seeing Ryan’s face in real time, his eyes on the camera and a slight frown on his lips.

“So, is this thing working? Ugh, piece of crap—“

“It’s working.” Ray whispered, clearing his throat and trying again, feeling and seeing himself flush. “I mean, uh, hi.”

“Hey.”

Silence fell as they looked each other over, before Ryan laughed slightly. “Well, this is… new.”

“Sorry, I just… um…”

“Hey, don’t sweat it.” Ryan shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “What’d you do all day? No work today, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Ray smiled, settling into the familiar routine of conversation. He was barely aware of the passing hours, the clock counting up towards midnight. By the time they bid each other goodnight, Ray had almost forgotten that the camera was on at all. Still, he smiled and waved goodnight to Ryan, logging off of Skype and falling into his bed with a sigh.

“Goddammit.” Ryan still wasn’t James, that was the worst part of it all. No matter how awesome the guy was, how comfortable Ray was with him, how attractive he was… They still weren’t soul mates. There was someone else out there, someone who was meant for Ryan in every way Ray wasn’t. Just like there was someone for him ( _supposedly_ , his mind whispered traitorously) who would completely replace Ryan one day.

He didn’t want that to happen. He didn’t want to lose what he had, however pathetic and selfish that was.

–

Instant messages.

Audio calls.

Video calls.

Chats over Xbox Live.

The exchange of phone numbers; text messages and phone calls.

It was bound to happen eventually.

–

Ray grinned as Ryan logged in, immediately sending the video call invitation—no hesitation, he knew that Ryan would accept and was eager to show him his latest gaming acquisition, a rare Sunday release. When the brunette appeared on the screen, in a t-shirt with his arms crossed behind his head, all thoughts of gaming flew from Ray’s mind.

“Hey, Ray, what’s up?”

Ray frowned at the screen, leaning forward slightly to get a better look. “What’s that? On your arm.”

Immediately Ryan’s arms dropped, his right arm resting against his chest. It was too late, of course, Ray had seen it. “Ray, I can explain—“

“That was my name.”

“Wait, just hear—“

 _Video chat has ended_.  
**Ryan:** Ray.  
_Ray has signed off._

–

Monday.

 _Ray has signed on._  
**Ryan** : Ray, it’s not what you think.  
_Ray has signed off._

–

Tuesday.

New Text Message  
**Rye-Bread**  
_Will you let me explain myself?_  
Message Deleted

–

Wednesday.

_Ryan would like to video chat.  
Ray has signed off._

–

Thursday.

Silence.

–

Friday.

 _Ray has signed on._  
_Ryan has signed off._

Ray slammed his fist against his desk, gritting his teeth and fighting down the tears that continued to threaten. Ryan had lied to him, Ryan wasn’t allowed to be the one avoiding him! Ryan should be begging for forgiveness, explaining himself, doing _something_ to make up for lying!

That he wasn’t giving the other man a chance for any of that was completely irrelevant. He still should have been doing it.

–

Saturday.

“Hey, Ray! Delivery for you!” His boss called into the back room, making Ray lift an eyebrow. He didn’t take the new shipments at work, and besides that, they never got new shipments on Saturdays. The Puerto Rican brushed his hands on his khaki pants, stepping out of the stock room and onto the main floor of the small store.

There was a man there, a dozen bright red roses in his arms, which he immediately handed over to Ray, along with a box of chocolates and a small envelope. “Sender requested to remain anonymous. Looks like you have a secret admirer. Sign here.” The man monotoned. Ray scribbled his name, glancing to his boss before hurrying into the break room.

He set the flowers and the chocolates aside, ripping open the envelope. A small gift card fell out, the bright red lettering declaring it to be redeemable for a 12-month subscription to Netflix. There was also a note, carefully lettered handwriting.

 _Ray,_  
I don’t deserve a second chance after I lied to you, but I hope you’ll give me one. Let’s have a movie night, okay? It may or may not be a date.  
Ryan

He fought down a smile, tucking the letter and the gift card into his pocket, carefully wrapping the roses and chocolates into his coat and hoping they wouldn’t wilt or be eaten before his shift was over.

New Text Message  
**Ray**  
_You are so making it up to me for lying, James Ryan Haywood. 8|  
_ Message Delivered

–

_Ray has signed on.  
Ryan would like to video chat._

Ray closed his eyes for a moment, clicking the accept invite button. As soon as Ryan appeared on the screen he felt his heart speed up, but he forced himself to at least look calm.

“Ray, I can ex—“

“Just shut up, okay? Just shut up for a minute and let _me_ explain something to _you_. Can you do that?”

Ryan nodded on the screen and Ray leaned back in his chair, pushing his glasses out of the way to rub his eyes.

“I like you, Ryan. I like you a fucking hell of a lot. I have spent the last fuckin’… six months that we’ve been talking being scared to death that you were going to find your soul mate and just ditch me. I didn’t want that to happen, mostly because I’m a selfish prick, but also because I thought… I thought maybe we were making each other happy. My friends, Michael and Lindsay? They’re not soul mates, but they make each other happy. And Lindsay… she met her soul mate, but she turned him down and… well, the rumor is that he tried to kill himself. I didn’t want to be rejected like that, I can’t just… just shrug things off. That’s why I signed up for the stupid service in the first place, but I got you instead of that James I’d been looking for… and I was so, _so_ happy every time we talked, even just stupid text messages about nothing. I kept thinking that… that maybe I didn’t _need_ a soul mate and that maybe you felt the same way and we could just… just be us. But you _lied_ to me.” He looked at the camera again, hurt and accusatory and confused. “You lied about not having my name, lied about your name. Why did you do it?”

Swallowing audibly, Ryan looked down, gently rubbing the inside of his right arm. “This whole… soul mates thing. Everyone says it’s perfect, they say that it always works out. But it’s not true, is it? It doesn’t always work out. I was going to tell you, I really was.” He looked up, slightly desperate. “I didn’t want to just be soul mates—I wanted you to like me because of who I am and I wanted to like you because of who you are, not because of the names on our skin. And…” Ryan sighed, slumping in his chair, blue eyes on his camera. “Look, you’re not the only one scared of rejection. I didn’t want to fuck up like this and I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to make it up to you, trying to get one last chance to… to prove to you that you mean something to me, something more than just a name on skin.”

“And do I?”

“Fucking hell, Ray. You mean the world to me. It’s been so goddamn _boring_ without you to talk to every day. Everything we had before I fucked up is still there… Everything.” Ryan nodded, lifting his hand slightly, still looking at the name on his forearm. “I think I love you.”

Ray felt his heart stop, actually _felt_ it. He paled, pushing back from the desk. “S-say that again…”

Ryan’s eyes moved to the camera, a small, almost shy smile on his lips. “I love you, Ray.”

Right, so he wasn’t crazy, he’d really heard that. Giving a shaky smile in return, Ray nodded. “I… kinda love you too…” He swallowed, rushing forward. “So, movie night? What should we watch?”

“Mm… you pick, okay?”

“ _Mean Girls_ it is!”

“Goddammit.”

–

Ray settled against his pillows, laptop next to his bed, the glow from the screen the only light in his room. Across the country, Ryan was in a similar position, both of them lying on their sides. “Alright, so… we don’t disconnect the call until one of us wakes up, got it? It’s like we’re sleeping in the same room, then.”

“This is sort of weird… but alright.” Ryan nodded, tucking his arm under his head. “We’ll have to do this for real eventually.”

“Hey, you’re always welcome to come visit me.” Ray smiled, pressing his fingertips to his lips and holding them up to the camera, seeing Ryan do the same.

“Maybe eventually. I’d rather get you down here.”

They were quiet for a while, getting comfortable, adjusting to the idea of sleeping on camera. Ray snuggled deeper into his blankets as the wind gusted outside, sighing. “Ryan?”

“Yeah?”

“Were you really just… afraid I wouldn’t want you?” It was a question that had been bugging him longer than he’d like to admit; Ryan was goddamned perfect, anyone that _wouldn’t_ want him was fucking insane.

“I…” Ryan shifted on his bed, sighing. “That was part of it. I didn’t want to be rejected… but also, I didn’t know if I wanted a relationship… if I wanted to commit myself to someone else just because of a name on skin. It’s… it’s kind of a scary thing, you know? That sort of commitment.”

“You signed up for the site, though.” Ray pointed out, nodding.

“Yeah. Mostly out of curiosity. I couldn’t find you at all, anywhere, before the site matched us up, you know. Going by Brownman literally everywhere online made you really hard to track, and I didn’t even know where to start.” Ryan laughed slightly, shaking his head. “Plus I’ve been moving around a lot until somewhat recently… Grew up in Georgia, when to Florida for college, got a job in Texas… it’s kind of difficult to _want_ to settle down with someone when all that’s going on.”

“But this works? This long distance thing is good for you?”

Ryan nodded, closing his eyes and pressing his lips to Ray’s name on his arm. “It is… for now. We’ll get together in person sooner or later, okay?”

“I just hope it’s as good in person as it is now.” Ray swallowed, closing his eyes.

“It’ll be better. Promise.” Fighting down a yawn, Ryan shifted on his bed again. “Get some sleep, Ray. You’re on the early shift tomorrow.”

“Oh, shit, I am? Fuck, I’m glad I have you to know my work schedule.” Ray laughed slightly, hearing Ryan laugh through his earphones.

“I’m glad I have you, full stop.”

“Me too, Ryan. Me too.”


End file.
